Over the last decade there has been a sharp rise in reported cases of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with a recent U.S. CDC prevalence estimate of 1 in 88 children diagnosed with ASD. Children diagnosed with an ASD have resultant medical expenditure 4-6 times greater than typically developing peers, and endure lifelong deficits in social communication and interaction and restricted patterns of behavior or interests. They often also exhibit associated symptoms including hyperactivity and irritability. Despite extensive pharmaceutical research, there are no FDA-approved medications for treatment of the core social impairment associated with ASD. Several factors have contributed to the slow development of targeted core impairment pharmacotherapy including the heterogeneous clinical presentation of ASD and limited availability of objective outcome measures of social/communication improvement. There remains a clear gap in the knowledge base of effective drug treatment of core social and communication impairment in ASD.